I can understand your dislike for the fan, but for a women it can be a bit more practical as you can carry one in your purse. I am actually learning fan and it is very practical. I mean for one thing it isn't paper, it's metal with fabric for the actual fan part, you can close it up and use it just as you would a stick in kali, plus it is heavier too. Also, back in the day the tips of the fan would have blades on it and be hidden by the fabric. Women would carry these around as a means of self protection. (I would like to have this eventually but I would most likely need a concealed weapons permit.) If it is made out of a metal it can be used to trap blades such as swords. Anyway there are a lot of uses for a fan, even now.

Also, the 3ss is a very dangerous weapon if you know how to use it right, same as nunchucks. Although these aren't very practical now adays (becasue who carries that with them everywhere) it would be quite difficult to get in on someone who has a 3ss or nunchucks and was swinging that at you. (probably you could even make it work if you didn't know how to properly use it. :icon_smur

thats what i said about the kung fu bench, it would be one of the most effective because they were all over back then. im gonna start a weopons class were we fight with normal chairs, spoons, forks, dull knifes, plates, and salt shakers

You forgot pepper. Toss it into the other guys face and kick him in the balls while he sneezes.

In my experience, the nunchaku are almost as dangerous to the user as anyone else.

I did see someone grab a nunchaku right out of the hands of someone who was supposedly "pretty good" with them while he was twirling them around showing off his skills.

Not that that means very much

Most people that claim to be pretty good with them have never hit anything with them, just spun them around.

Nunchacku are a dangerous weapon if you learn how to use them combatively, through hitting the bag and sparring with them. Same with the 3 sectional staff, which is more often used as two double sticks with the ability to do a swing if the opportunity arrises.

I wouldn't call either of them my favorite in terms of effectiveness, but both are really fun to spar with, and depending on what the other guy has, can be quite effective.

Least effective weapon we've ever tried to make work in sparring was probably what is called a "suruchin", basically a rope or chain with a weight on the end. (think skipping rope but heavier). Accuracy sucked and you got one shot and that was it, blocking was not a option...

I'd put the kubaton and the flashlight in the same category, as they are basically the same in terms of function. Truthfully I think there usefulness rapidly degrades as your skill goes up...

My 2 cents:

IMO, Anything that hurts when you hit someone with it can be used as a weapon and therefore is a weapon(unless of course firearms are present in the situation)

I don't think the nunchaku deserves such a bad rap. The thing is that the nunchaku can be used in 2 ways: For show(as in twirling and flipping it around, Bruce Lee/TMNT style) or for actual combat. The problem is that the Average Joe/bullshidoka thinks that using it "stunt" style will work on an actual combat scenario when in reality, the nunchaku should be wielded in a simple matter just like a whip or a medieval flail for it be effective. And as for the 3SS, Sure it's a mess of a weapon but it can still be used effectively somehow if you refrain from doing silly kung fu stunts with it. Like I said "anything that hurts when you hit with it can be used as a weapon". You just gotta learn to use it right.

Though, I didn't really vote yet but if I did, I would have to go for either the kubotan, the chopsticks or the tactical torch(though at least the tac-torch can be used to see in the dark) mainly because their all fist-load/pocket stick types which are mostly bullshit overused by RBSD groups. I mean, If I were to use a weapon in a combat scenario, it should provide an advantage over using my bare hands. For instance, A club would provide length to reach my opponent without getting too close plus weight and heftiness to provide extra damage,a sharp objet like a knife would be able to slash and stab and a small but heavy blunt object like a brick or a billiard ball while not long or sharp, still has some heftiness to dish out some pain. I don't see any advantage in using small, lightweight, blunt objects so it wouldn't make much of a difference in fighting with bare hands. At least when you're unarmed you have your hands free to grapple your opponent.

The only effective use I can think for "fist load" weapons is throwing them at your attacker. And even if they did work they're still a waste of money and pocket space when you could use everyday objects you carry around like a cell phone or a zippo lighter for the same purposes.

And I can still think of worse weapons; I have this book, "Ancient Chinese Weapons" by Dr. Yang, Jwing Ming which has some pretty weird and fucked up weapons like the Gan Zi Bian(basically a tassled stick with a long rope with a knife attached to it), the tong ren(brass man statue) and this kooky thing that looks like a creepy looking back-scratcher. I don't think that many of the so called "weapons" featured there were ever even used as weapons.